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In June, the council adopted a unified development ordinance that raises the intensity of type site from 24 to 76. "I attribute our success to the very deliberate public involvement process," says Greene. "We talked about basic values and about design, not about density." A major developer already has an option on the commercial part of the site, and a funding initiative for a town center is scheduled to appear on the fall ballot.

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In architect Alex Seidel's view, "too dense" is not just a question of how much density per acre. "Too dense relates to how a project is designed," he says. "It's a question of creating an environment of value, a place where you want to be."

His San Francisco firm, Seidel/Holzman, has had notable success in getting California communities to accept higher density (up to 85 units per acre in one development). The trick? "It really has a lot to do with showing people lots of examples—photos, drawings, plans. You can't talk in abstractions. You have to say, here's what this thing can look like, here's how it can work."

Ten years ago, even that approach didn't necessarily work, Seidel says. A massive shortage of moderately priced housing has caused a major shift in attitudes, he says. So have two-hour commutes, changes in family structure, and a state law requiring every community to assess its capacity for additional housing. All that has brought innovations in housing design and in zoning.

Seidel offers as an example his firm's Fruitdale Station project in San Jose, which is sponsored by the city's redevelopment agency. It's a reuse of a 13-acre K-Mart site, most of it a parking lot. "We're designing 445 mostly market-rate rental units on four levels, along with 15,000 square feet of retail and 250,000 square feet of office space, all surrounding a one-acre park. We're intensifying a really low-intensity site and creating greater quality at the same time," he says.



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